Pedigree dog scammer jailed after raking in £170k

A DOG breeder has been jailed for six months after she duped owners of £170,000 by passing off puppies as Kennel Club registered pedigrees.

Lisa Walsh, 47, made £171,000 by telling buyers her puppies were Kennel Club-registered[ARCHANT]

Lisa Walsh, 47, sold many of the puppies that were sick – some with vomiting and diarrhoea. One labrador puppy needed emergency £5,000 surgery on its hip while another had to be put down after contracting parvovirus disease.

Trading standards officers launched a five-year investigation after complaints and arrested Walsh at Greenacres Farm in Tasburgh, Norfolk, in April 2012.

They found labradors and puppies, a boxer and puppies, West Highland terriers, cavalier King Charles spaniels and two cocker spaniel puppies in a barn.

Council officers seized receipt books showing she charged £500 on average, falsely claiming dogs were registered with the Kennel Club and had been inoculated against deadly illnesses. Walsh was also found with more than £43,000 in her building society account.

During the investigation more than 60 pet owners provided information and 50 volunteered to be witnesses. At the trial earlier this year, Walsh had initially denied participating in a fraudulent business between September 2009 and October 2012, but changed her plea on the third day of a planned four-week trial at Norwich Crown Court.

We are overjoyed. We thought she was going to get a suspended sentence. It will give her time to reflect on what she has put us all through

Suzanne Keeble

She was jailed on Friday for six months after being told by Judge Antony Bate she had run a “sophisticated and skilled” operation.

Besides fraudulent trading, she also admitted two allegations of fraud in making false representations that the puppies had been vaccinated.

Walsh, a single mother, also pleaded guilty to falsely claiming £12,335.53 housing benefit and £2,631.81 council tax benefit from South Norfolk Council.

Pet owner Samantha Brady bought her labrador Alfie from Walsh and the dog needed both hips replaced due to severe bilateral hip dysplasia.

She said: “We were expecting her to get a suspended sentence so are very pleased that she has been jailed.”

Suzanne Keeble bought a dog which now has hip dysplasia, costing her thousands in vet bills [ARCHANT]

Suzanne Keeble bought a dog which now has hip dysplasia that has cost thousands of pounds in vet bills. She said: “We are overjoyed. We thought she was going to get a suspended sentence. It will give her time to reflect on what she has put us all through. We have all suffered so much. I bought my dog for my life but have been told that it might have to be put down.”

Maria Hunton, who bought a West Highland terrier from Walsh for £500, said: “I don’t think six months is long enough, but we are all pleased.

“Hopefully her sentence will act as a warning to others and deter them doing what she did.”

Norfolk Trading Standards manager, Shaun Norris, said after the case: “This case has shown that it can be very difficult to be sure that you are buying a pedigree dog.”

Walsh will also be banned for breeding or selling dogs for five years when she is released.